At the outset, I wish to express my appreciation to Mr. Chandru Ramanathan, the Deputy Controller, for his presentation of the report of the Secretary-General A/67/224.

As the second largest financial contributor to the United Nations, Japan attaches great importance to the scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of United Nations peacekeeping operations as well as the scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations. Japan has paid its dues faithfully, despite its difficult economic and financial situations.

Mr. Chairman,

Since the scale of assessments for UN PKOs is based on the scale of assessments for the UN, my delegation firmly believes that the discussion on the latter should be reflected appropriately in the discussion on the former.

As my delegation said last week, we should respect and adhere to the basic principle that each Member State of the United Nations should pay its assessed contribution according to its “capacity to pay.” When we discuss the scale of assessments for UN PKOs, there is one more element to be considered. It is the principle of “responsibility.”

Based on these two principles, my delegation will actively and constructively participate in the negotiations to ensure a comprehensive review of the scale of assessments for UN PKOs.